COIN/CORNER Peel & Wellington - Griffintown

I uploaded this short video of the demolition on the corner of Peel & Wellington. Only a facade remains.

 Les travaux sur le coin de Peel et Wellington. Juste une facade.

Former Garda building on St-Jacques - Saint-Henri

part of the changing face of Saint-Henri

This gorgeous building on St-Jacques, between Bourget and Rose De Lima, will be converted into condos called LA MACHINERIE. Garda's offices were situated there for a couple of decades. On the top floor there used to be a halfway house for aboriginal criminals called Waseskun House, which previous to this location was situated in Pointe-Saint-Charles at this abandoned building.  Back in 1997, I worked at Waseskun House for 2 months as a security guard. I used to give walks to inmates all over Montréal. The photo below shows the back court. Part of the old red brick building with the chimney is this abandoned building on Rose de Lima, which was supposed to have been demolished years ago.

THE GAZETTE has an article about the sector and the former Garda building is featured in the article (see next post below).

Gazette article on Sud-Ouest

THE GAZETTE has an article about heritage buildings/sites in danger because of the current condo boom! It's good that they're talking about this now but it's a bit too little too late.   Link

Old film made in Montréal circa 1967

Here's a compilation of clips taken from a German/Italian film called KOMMISSAR X - DREI BLAUE PANTHER filmed in Montréal. I've tried to include all the exterior scenes in this.

I took a couple of screenshots from the film for those who don't want to watch the clips. You can see the old Laurentian Hotel (below; this scene is not included in the video) and the film takes place at La Ronde and Expo 67.

Update: Horse Palace + Ottawa construction - Griffintown

Just a few snapshots of the Horse Palace + triplex in Griffintown on Ottawa street seeminly surrounded by construction from all sides. There's a bin in the yard but I was told the bin is for the construction site on De La Montagne and Ottawa. The construction started late spring of last year and they've only reached ground level almost a year later. Hmm...

The triplex and horse palace were recently purchased by a condo developer who promised they'll preserve something of it but Phillis Lambert went before city hall to complain about its fate (and a few other endangered spots in Montreal) and how many places are being recklessly demolished.

The new condo is completed (on the corner of Murray and Ottawa) and sorta blends with the older triplex that's just next to the horse palace.

Notes & Stuff

- Stats: the majority of visitors only look at the first page. At least 90% of visitors do not go beyond the main page even though there's 3 years worth of stuff here.

To make things simpler, all posts are listed on the left hand side, with the top ten most viewed listed there as well. Just look at that to make browsing the blog easier.

- The majority of people who send comments are former Montrealers living outside of Montreal, in Toronto or Vancouver or another province, or the US or Europe. Hmm…yes, Montrealers have posted but the ratio is much greater with former Montrealers.

- Because the majority of visitors do not go beyond the main page, I'll be adding new permanent pages. I created two new permanent pages: VANISHING GRIFFINTOWN and SMALL HOUSES. I'll add more permanent pages in the future, probably about specific neighborhoods to make it simpler. Permanent pages are listed just below the banner.

- Limitations and locations: it's physically impossible for one person like me to cover the entire island of Montreal. I concentrate in Downtown, Old Montreal, HOMA, Village, Griffintown, Pointe St-Charles, Little Burgundy, Verdun, Cote Saint Paul, Ville Emard, Lasalle with posts in Westmount, Cote des Neiges, Saint Michel, Rosemont, etc. There are some areas that I'll probably never cover myself because they are too far from where I live (Ahuntsic is a good example). If some want to send photos my way of those areas, I'll give full credit and post them here. Denis Heraud and others have contributed to the blog.

- Suggestions are always welcome. The one problem with suggestions is that they're often about places I've already posted about (see reason number 1 for that). Before sending out a suggestion, just double check the blog to see if I covered it. There's a search option in the top left.

- I'm currently working on 70+ locations (new locations, updates, topics, etc) with literally dozens added per week. Some are more important than others and they take priority. There's so much stuff going on at the present that I'll try posting more often than before. The problem with posting lotsa stuff several times a week is that it doesn't give visitors the chance to see those posts on the main page as they're being bumped off of it (again see reason number 1).

Update: Vieux Munich/Medley construction site

Here are some photos of the construction site where the Vieux Munich/Medely used to be. I took these photos during the heat wave in March 2012. I already wrote about this here, here and here.

Update: Greystone on St-Jacques + article in The Gazette - Saint-Henri

part of the changing face of Saint-Henri

The old greystone building on St-Jacques street in Saint-Henri, built in and around 1880s, was demolished overnight just a few weeks ago after its burnt shell, gutted by a fire (here), stood neglected for a year and a half. As expected new condos will be built there. This building was the focus of an article in The Gazette.

 

This small house was partially hidden because of the greystone building. Since its demolition, we can clearly see it.

Le William condo project - Griffintown

Major condo project on William between St-Martin and Des Seigneurs in Griffintown. This is a big project with two individual buildings on the single site built around the existing old factory. The old factory will be part if phase One with a bigger addition integrated next to it on Des Seigneurs and phase Two will be situated on the St-Martin street side. There will be a spacious inner courtyard between the buildings. Previously, part of the land was mostly parking space but two structures (storage?) were demolished in the process.

(image: google streetview)

The two structures that were demolished formely on William and St-Martin 

(image: google streetview)

A panoramic shot of the construction site from Des Seigneurs

(image: google streetview)

La Tour Windsor - Montréal

A new office tower project called La Tour Windsor (see last image) will be built where this 8 storeys building is located. This was an addition to the Windsor station. From the looks of the new Tower, they might keep part of it as a facade.

NEW: Vanishing Montréal on FACEBOOK

Vanishing Montréal is now on FACEBOOK. For better or worse. I know a lot of people don't like Facebook but it's an easy place to suggest places and stuff and like recent posts. Link

Before & After : ETS building - Griffintown

The new ETS building in Griffintown on William street. Top photo was taken last spring. The 2 photos below were taken today. You can use the old style street lamp as reference point in the two first photos.

It looks like a fight between David and Goliath...I guess Goliath is winning this time

Before & After : Dow Brewery Chimney - Griffintown

The chimney was shorten with the word DOW removed/cut, with only BREWERY remaining. The brick color also changed in the adjoining building. They also added a couple of floors in the structure just next to the chimney: in the before photo the roof reached up to the last letter E but now the roof goes all the way to the first R in brewery. And part of the building just below the chimney was demolished and removed, including the chute and the tree growing on it. The After is cleaner and with more windows but I prefer the Before. Much more character.

LE SEVILLE Condo construction - Brief video

When I was at the construction site I took a brief video of the area

Update: LE SEVILLE Condo project - Montréal

4 photos of LE SEVILLE condo project being built. Two previous posts, one in April of 2010 (link) and May 2011 (link). It's two years since the first post and they're still a long ways in completing the project. Slowly but surely.

A few snapshots of Montréal with new camera...

Building on Peel st - Griffintown

New banner on this empty building on the corner of Peel and Ottawa st. shows what Phase 3 is  supposed to look like. Begins on April 18, 2012. I might just be there...

Update: Bus depot on Wellington - Griffintown

The commercial bus depot on Wellington st in Griffintown is now history, as the two top photos show. Most people won't miss it but I liked that corner. It sorta was a nowhere land of sorts where only cars, going or leaving downtown, drove by it.

2 summers ago, before the entire brouhaha about the impending changes that would take place in the neighborhood, I waited for the 107 bus there for what seemed to be an eternity. The day was hot and humid. Previously, I had spent several hours taking photos of the area and my feet needed a rest. Standing there, where few people stood, cars coming and going, with the overgrown weed and grass jutting out of cracks on the sidewalks and scorching pavement, I remember thinking that this moment won't happen again. Even with the traffic going by, it was a very peaceful and quiet moment, just near downtown Montreal.